1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to wearable safety equipment and, more particularly, to an apparatus that may provide ear and eye protection.
2. Description of Related Art
Equipment that aids in protecting people under potentially dangerous conditions comes in a variety of forms and provide a variety of functions. However, safety equipment is only effective if it actually worn and properly used. And even though a person may know it is better for them to use safety equipment in a particular situation, everyone does not always do so. The excuses or rationalizations for doing so are numerous and sometimes are the fault of the person; however, the safety equipment itself can contribute to a person's reluctance to use it because it is cumbersome, easy to forget, or difficult to use.
Two particular areas of safety equipment that are typically useful are hearing protection and eye protection. Safety glasses or regular eyewear are useful in a wide variety environments to help protect a wearer's eyes from debris, dust, flying particles and the like. A retaining strap of some sort is particularly useful in that it helps keep the eyewear in place around a person's neck and it helps keep the eyewear securely in place when the eyewear is being used. Ear protection is another useful type of safety equipment that comes in a wide variety of styles. Individual foam ear plugs are useful but can be easily forgotten and, even if remembered, are typically stuffed in a person's pocket from where they need to be retrieved before being useful.
There have been previous attempts to address the issues described above such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,541,677 and 6,604,823. However, these attempts also have certain drawbacks. In particular, ease of adjustment and potentially unsafe configurations are drawbacks exhibited by the devices described in those patents. There remains, therefore, an unmet need for a combination eyewear retainer and ear protection device that provides improved safety, simplicity, flexibility, and ready customization for various sized users.